What is a Story of Place?

Story of Place is about understanding the deep connections between a place and its inhabitants over time, and its potential for regeneration into the future.

Story of place is a process to deepen everyone's understanding of the patterns of a place and how it wants to be. It co-creates a shared story of the place’s character so each person can find their role to be in benefit to the place they call home.

  1. Deepen understanding: It helps people understand how their place came to be and the context of their community.
  2. Cohesive Communities: A commitment to listening from the heart to Country and First People's truth-telling.
  3. Sense of Belonging: Creating a shared story while enabling the diversity of cultural stories to flourish will strengthen connection to the land and each other.
  4. Informed Decisions: Understanding a place's patterns in the ecosystem and underlying social dynamics enable future actions to be in right relationship with the ecology and across communities.
  5. Care for Nature: Building our relationship with the local ecology promotes stewardship and care for Nature. We are nature and when we care for nature she cares for us.

In essence, the Story of Place is about weaving together the past and present and to recognising our potential to create our future of thriving communities that value all life

Connect with your Story of Place

How will it happen?

Over the 12 months, we will learn to be together, understanding ourselves, each other, and our place, through these guiding questions:

  • What makes this place uniquely significant?
  • How does this place work?
  • What nourishes this place?
  • What does this place provide for other places to nourish them?
  • What is this place capable of becoming?

We will meet every two weeks: one session to deepen our understanding of the place and another to celebrate it through in-person gatherings. The educational sessions will offer insights and discussions, while the celebrations will be fun, community-focused events. This balance aims to both educate and unite us, creating a deeper connection to our shared home.

Draft Program Structure Overview:

2 Months Pre-Program Work:

  • Why: Create conditions for success
  • What: Find and activate willing and able participants
  • How: Identify and engage stakeholders and core team, including First Nations elders, leaders and youth

Story of Place Community Launch: Walking on Country with Traditional Custodians

When each place has enough energy to begin the story of place, we will start with a First Nations led session to connect with Country and learn how to be in right relationship with each place.

Following the launch there will be fortnightly gatherings

Fortnight 1: on zoom

Fortnight 2: in person

Please note:

This is a rough program structure to be co-created with community. Each session intends to have an Indigenous Lead and Non-Indigenous lead.

1. Geomorphology – Energy Bound Creatures

  • Size and scope of the area
  • Land formation and character
  • Influence on living systems, hydrology, climate, and population

2. Learning to listen to Country Session

  • Cultivating deep listening to connect with Country and understand First People's truth-telling.

3. Climate Systems – Energy Moving Creatures

  • Weather patterns and water cycles

4. Watershed – Energy Moving Creatures

  • Boundaries
  • Relationships to neighboring systems and bioregion

5. Bioregion – Living Whole Creature

  • Boundaries
  • Relationships to neighboring systems and watershed

6. Flora – Energy Binding Creatures

  • Guilds, evolution, and settlement history
  • Succession and introductions
  • Ecosystem relationships

7. Fauna – Space Binding Creatures

  • Trophic order, migration, apex predators
  • Introductions and ecosystem relationships

8. Social/Cultural – Time Binding

  • First and settled people, lifestyle, traditions, beliefs, and recreation
  • Community vibe and relationship to the land

9. Political – Time Binding

  • Government relationships and local population leanings
  • Cycles of change and their impacts

10. Economy – Time Binding

  • Economic drivers, historic evolution, and finance systems
  • Local and alternative finance models

11. Urban Planning – Energy Bound

  • Town planning, legislation, infrastructure, commercial development, and housing

12. Industry – Time Binding

  • Industry groups, primary sectors, and regional influence
  • Regional restraints

13. Review Data & Major Celebration

  • Full moon festival vibes
  • Land influence and uniqueness
  • Community cohesion projects to unlock potential

The overall goal 

Create a thriving and cohesive community through understanding and celebrating the place and building relationships across diverse communities.